Birth Control Pills – Symbol of Liberation and Freedom or Pathway to Insanity?

Leslie Carol Botha: Another great commentary by SMCR member Kati Bicknell. Women really need to reconsider the benefits vs. the risk of synthetic birth control. Me thinks we have been duped way too long. Especially since synthetic hormone contraceptives do not protect against STD’s. Condoms and spermicide are looking better and better all the time. Your turn guys… if you want to have sex with us – then time for you to be accountable for your fertility.

Getting Over the Pill

by Kati Bicknell
January 15, 2013

Here’s a notion: Birth control pills are not the only way manage your reproductive health.

Adapted from a photo by Jess Hamilton // Creative Commons A-NC-SA 2.0

The pill came out more than 50 years ago, and at the time, it was a symbol of liberation and freedom for women. Suddenly, they no longer had to worry about unplanned pregnancy. It was great. But now that 50-year-old technology is starting to lose much of the appeal it once had.

Today many women get on the pill as teenagers to “regulate” irregular cycles, and they get off the pill in their late 20s or early 30s when they want to get pregnant. The unfortunate reality is many women find it’s not as easy as they thought it would be to get pregnant. Ten or fifteen years of being on oral contraceptives doesn’t “fix” an irregular cycle; it just kind of pushes the pause button on your reproductive system.

When you come off the pill in your late 20s or early 30s because you finally want kids, your body has to pick up where it left off when you were a teenager. Often women at this stage of their lives find it takes longer than expected to conceive and wind up on the assisted reproductive technology track — reproductive endocrinologists, expensive and annoying tests, procedures, hormone injections ,and all that jazz. And, heartbreakingly, after several years and thousands of dollars, that doesn’t always work.

The side effects of the pill are a real pain in the ass for many women, too. Weight gain, depression, loss of libido, and “not feeling like myself” (AKA “I seem to have gone insane”) are some of the more common complaints cited. In fact, a CDC report on contraceptive use states that 10.3 million women have stopped taking the pill due to side effects, or fear of side effects.

All women need a way to have children when they want them, and to not have children when they don’t. And they need to feel good about the whole thing — not freaked out, bloated and crazy. Imagine how the world would be different if this was a reality.